1 : the promotion of the consumer's interests
2 : the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable; also: a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods
First Known Use of CONSUMERISM
1944
In the 21st centuryBeginning in the 1990s, the most frequent reason given for attending college had changed to making a lot of money, outranking reasons such as becoming an authority in a field or helping others in difficulty. This correlates with the rise of materialism, specifically the technological aspect: the increasing prevalence of compact disc players, digital media, personal computers, and cellular telephones. Madeline Levine criticized what she saw as a large change in American culture – “a shift away from values of community, spirituality, and integrity, and toward competition, materialism and disconnection.” [10]
Businesses have realized that wealthy consumers are the most attractive targets of marketing. The upper class's tastes, lifestyles, and preferences trickle down to become the standard for all consumers. The not so wealthy consumers can “purchase something new that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence”.[11] A consumer can have the instant gratification of purchasing an expensive item to improve social status.
Emulation is also a core component of 21st century consumerism. As a general trend, regular consumers seek to emulate those who are above them in the social hierarchy. The poor strive to imitate the wealthy and the wealthy imitate celebrities and other icons. The celebrity endorsement of products can be seen as evidence of the desire of modern consumers to purchase products partly or solely to emulate people of higher social status. This purchasing behavior may co-exist in the mind of a consumer with an image of oneself as being an individualist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism
CultureCultureis a set of attributes that are ascribed to a group of individuals. These attributes include behaviors, beliefs, origin, attitudes, values, goals and practices. Cultural practices are influenced by the different types of food a group may eat or the type of religion they choose to practice. Culture is often influenced by the former practices of their ancestors. A groups mythical perceptions, political ideology, language, and fashions constitute some elements of culture. These basic elements of culture can include communication patterns, values, norms, rites & rituals, environmental interactions, artifacts, and collective wisdom.
We celebrate many holidays in the United States. We celebrate Labor day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving while other cultures celebrate their own unique holidays. The music we listen to, the movies we watch and the English language we speak create cultural patterns that we tend to follow.Folk Culture
Folk culture combines traditional values, old practices, and faith as it strives to cut out the new or novelty ways of life. These basic, traditional ideals are deemed most important and pave the way for newer generations based on past ancestor's morals. Stories, lullabies, song, and dance are all examples o f such tradition passed down in folk culture. Concepts such as character, honesty, charity, faith, and love are also stressed in folk culture as they are frequently referenced. Place of origin and locale are important as well in that they will always carry strong connotation but do not restrict the practices of folk culture from being carried on else where.
MASS CULTURE
Mass Culture, also at times called pop culture, is a set of cultural values and ideas that arise from common exposure of a population to the same cultural activities, communications media, music and art. It becomes possible only with modern communications and electronic media and is transmitted to individuals, rather than arising from people's daily interactions, and therefore lacks the distinctive content of cultures rooted in community and region. Mass culture also tends to reproduce the liberal value of individualism and to foster a view of the citizen as consumer. It does not value tradition or religion the way folk culture does due to people relying too much on industry. Examples: Face book, i Pods, Starbucks, smart phones, Lil Wayne, Reality T.V.
Primary SourcesPrimary sourcesare contemporary accounts of an event written by someone who has experienced the event in question first hand. This source is the original copy that is unedited. Primary resources can be written, typed or recorded. Some examples include diaries, letters, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews, constitutions and unpublished works. They might also include published pieces such as newspapers and/or (some) articles, photographs, audio or video recordings and research papers.
Secondary Sources A Secondary Source is formed by reviewing a collection of primary sources, but often secondary sources are included. The inclusion of secondary sources does not produce very scholarly and reliable accounts. A careful author always draws a real distinction between the types of sources permitted to form the basis of his research. A careful researcher will limit his resource collection to entirely primary sources. A secondary source theoretically should only be based on primary information obtained through direct observation or involvement. Secondary sources include commentary, opinion, bias, current popular views, and can be distorted beyond the factual evidence that was contained in original primary sources.
*Wikipedia is probably the most popular secondary reference source. Although there is a continual review and correction process that occurs, the content at any particular time can contain errors. Other good examples are magazines, textbooks, movies, encyclopedias, and the numerous wealth of information available on the internet.
Hegemony
Hegemony is the way in which those in power maintain their control. It can also be interpreted as the dominance of one social group over another. Often times the ruling class’s ideas can be perceived as beneficial to everyone when they really only aid the dominant class. For instance, Tax laws in U.S., Soviet Union's control in Eastern Europe at one point, and ancient Greek city-states. Control is not forced but is more of a consensus. Nowadays people in America, as well as other countries agree to this “consensus” without even realizing. Many ways that certain hegemonic ideals are put in place and reinforced are through the media and schools. This does not mean that these ideas are in place for all time, like any other power, it needs to be maintained, reinforced, and promoted regularly and in a manner that is agreeable to the desired audience.
Some popular examples of hegemony are: • The police are always right • It is important to be slim • A credit card is a desirable status symbol • Mass immigration is undesirable • The poor are lazy and deserve their hardship • Men are better drivers than women • It is important to wear fashionable clothes
Hegemony is defined as a influence pressured on by a dominant group over others. “Predominance; preponderance; leadership; specifically, headship or control exercised by one state over another or others, as through confederation or conquest: originally applied to such a relation often existing among the states of ancient Greece.” __http://www.wordnik.com/words/hegemony__
Five Dimensions of the Concept of Hegemony
There are at least five basic dimensions to the concept of hegemony, ranging from gross and obvious to more subtle. Hegemony is much more than simple domination because of its more subtle dimensions found later on this list. 1. Military
The hegemon has the strongest military in the world, significantly stronger than any of its rivals. Its military alliance system is significantly stronger than any rival military blocs. 2. Economic
The hegemon has the largest and most technologically advanced economy in the world. It is a major trading partner of most of the nations of the world, including most of the major powers. 3. Political
The hegemon has a wide range of political allies, and friendly relations with most nations and major powers. 4. Institutional
The hegemon, working with its allies, makes most of the rules that govern global political and economic relations. The hegemon, along with its allies, usually controls most of the international institutions. Thus, most of the policies of the international institutions favor the hegemon and its allies. 5. Ideological
The hegemon largely determines the terms of discourse in global relations. Marx once wrote, "The ruling ideas of any age are the ideas of the ruling class." Today, the predominant ideas about globalization are the ideas of hegemon.
Hegemony Contains Both Coercion and Consent
In international relations, the theory of hegemony is crucial because it captures both the tendency of the world’s leading power to forcefully assert its dominance yet at the same time to create alliances, ideas, and institutions that attract the relatively free participation of other states and peoples in a more or less open international system. Hegemony thus embodies both the coercion of informal empire and the consent of democratic participation. It combines both the “hard” power of military and economic empire with the “soft” power of democratic ideas and global institutions. Because the current international system built around U.S. hegemony thus contains both elements of coercion and consent, over time it could evolve in either the direction of an expanded informal empire or a more democratic, peaceful world order. __http://dflorig.com/Hegemony.htm__
Examples of hegemony
1."The images, modes and attitudes of __hip-hop__ and __gangsta rap__ are so powerful they are having a hegemonic effect across the globe. "
2.Communism had ideological hegemony over Marxism 3. A news report that shows strong support for a controversial foreign policy decision can be said to hegemonically support the government.
4. A home improvement network that makes it seem "normal" to own high-end granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances can be said to be hegemonically supporting the capitalist economic system.
5. A game show that shows scantily-clad women passively standing still until the host tells her to "open the case" can be seen as hegemonically promoting patriarchy.
6. Everyday behaviors that keep governments in power:
People hanging flags from their homes
People rising and removing their hats when the national anthem is sung
People celebrating a country's independence day with parades and picnic
7. Everyday behaviors that keep corporations in power:
People wearing designer clothing
People shopping at chains instead of local stores
Schools serving fast food in cafeterias
Women displaying huge diamond engagement rings.
People celebrating days that have been manufactured by Hallmark like Grandparent's Day
8. Everyday behaviors that keep patriarchy in power:
Women taking their husbands' last names.
Fathers "giving away" their daughters during wedding ceremonies.
The use of words such as "man" as gender neutral.
Pop ArtPop Art was an art movement in the late 1950s and 1960s that reflected everyday life and common objects. It isnt your traditional style of fine art but incorporated very visual elements and mass-produced ideas of popular culture. Pop Art is one of the major art movements of the twentieth century. Characterized by themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as advertising and comic books, pop art is widely interpreted as either a reaction to the then dominated ideas of abstract expression or an expansion upon them. It was Andy Warhol, however, who really brought Pop Art to the public eye. His screen prints of Coke bottles, Campbell's soup tins and film stars are part of the iconography of the 20th century. Pop Art owned much to dada in the way ot mocked the established art world. By embracing commercial techniques, and creating slick, machine-produced art, the Pop artists were settling themselves apert from the painerly, inward-looking tendencies of the Abstract Expressionist movement that immediately preceded them. The leading artists in Pop were Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Roy Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Robert Raschenberg and Claes Oldenburg.
con·sum·er·ism
Definition of CONSUMERISM
1: the promotion of the consumer's interests
2
: the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable; also : a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods
First Known Use of CONSUMERISM
1944
In the 21st centuryBeginning in the 1990s, the most frequent reason given for attending college had changed to making a lot of money, outranking reasons such as becoming an authority in a field or helping others in difficulty. This correlates with the rise of materialism, specifically the technological aspect: the increasing prevalence of compact disc players, digital media, personal computers, and cellular telephones. Madeline Levine criticized what she saw as a large change in American culture – “a shift away from values of community, spirituality, and integrity, and toward competition, materialism and disconnection.” [10]
Businesses have realized that wealthy consumers are the most attractive targets of marketing. The upper class's tastes, lifestyles, and preferences trickle down to become the standard for all consumers. The not so wealthy consumers can “purchase something new that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence”.[11] A consumer can have the instant gratification of purchasing an expensive item to improve social status.
Emulation is also a core component of 21st century consumerism. As a general trend, regular consumers seek to emulate those who are above them in the social hierarchy. The poor strive to imitate the wealthy and the wealthy imitate celebrities and other icons. The celebrity endorsement of products can be seen as evidence of the desire of modern consumers to purchase products partly or solely to emulate people of higher social status. This purchasing behavior may co-exist in the mind of a consumer with an image of oneself as being an individualist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism
CONSUMERISM PAPER
We celebrate many holidays in the United States. We celebrate Labor day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving while other cultures celebrate their own unique holidays. The music we listen to, the movies we watch and the English language we speak create cultural patterns that we tend to follow.Folk Culture
Folk culture combines traditional values, old practices, and faith as it strives to cut out the new or novelty ways of life. These basic, traditional ideals are deemed most important and pave the way for newer generations based on past ancestor's morals. Stories, lullabies, song, and dance are all examples o f such tradition passed down in folk culture. Concepts such as character, honesty, charity, faith, and love are also stressed in folk culture as they are frequently referenced. Place of origin and locale are important as well in that they will always carry strong connotation but do not restrict the practices of folk culture from being carried on else where.
MASS CULTURE
Mass Culture, also at times called pop culture, is a set of cultural values and ideas that arise from common exposure of a population to the same cultural activities, communications media, music and art. It becomes possible only with modern communications and electronic media and is transmitted to individuals, rather than arising from people's daily interactions, and therefore lacks the distinctive content of cultures rooted in community and region. Mass culture also tends to reproduce the liberal value of individualism and to foster a view of the citizen as consumer. It does not value tradition or religion the way folk culture does due to people relying too much on industry. Examples: Face book, i Pods, Starbucks, smart phones, Lil Wayne, Reality T.V.
Primary SourcesPrimary sources are contemporary accounts of an event written by someone who has experienced the event in question first hand. This source is the original copy that is unedited. Primary resources can be written, typed or recorded. Some examples include diaries, letters, journals, speeches, manuscripts, interviews, constitutions and unpublished works. They might also include published pieces such as newspapers and/or (some) articles, photographs, audio or video recordings and research papers.
Secondary Sources
A Secondary Source is formed by reviewing a collection of primary sources, but often secondary sources are included. The inclusion of secondary sources does not produce very scholarly and reliable accounts. A careful author always draws a real distinction between the types of sources permitted to form the basis of his research. A careful researcher will limit his resource collection to entirely primary sources. A secondary source theoretically should only be based on primary information obtained through direct observation or involvement. Secondary sources include commentary, opinion, bias, current popular views, and can be distorted beyond the factual evidence that was contained in original primary sources.
*Wikipedia is probably the most popular secondary reference source. Although there is a continual review and correction process that occurs, the content at any particular time can contain errors. Other good examples are magazines, textbooks, movies, encyclopedias, and the numerous wealth of information available on the internet.
Hegemony
Hegemony is the way in which those in power maintain their control. It can also be interpreted as the dominance of one social group over another. Often times the ruling class’s ideas can be perceived as beneficial to everyone when they really only aid the dominant class. For instance, Tax laws in U.S., Soviet Union's control in Eastern Europe at one point, and ancient Greek city-states. Control is not forced but is more of a consensus. Nowadays people in America, as well as other countries agree to this “consensus” without even realizing. Many ways that certain hegemonic ideals are put in place and reinforced are through the media and schools. This does not mean that these ideas are in place for all time, like any other power, it needs to be maintained, reinforced, and promoted regularly and in a manner that is agreeable to the desired audience.
Some popular examples of hegemony are:
• The police are always right
• It is important to be slim
• A credit card is a desirable status symbol
• Mass immigration is undesirable
• The poor are lazy and deserve their hardship
• Men are better drivers than women
• It is important to wear fashionable clothes
Jackson, G. A. (2010). Popular Culture and Hegemony [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from __https://bb.utsa.edu/webct/urw/lc5122011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct__
Hegemony
Hegemony is defined as a influence pressured on by a dominant group over others. “Predominance; preponderance; leadership; specifically, headship or control exercised by one state over another or others, as through confederation or conquest: originally applied to such a relation often existing among the states of ancient Greece.”
__http://www.wordnik.com/words/hegemony__
Five Dimensions of the Concept of Hegemony
There are at least five basic dimensions to the concept of hegemony, ranging from gross and obvious to more subtle. Hegemony is much more than simple domination because of its more subtle dimensions found later on this list.
1. Military
The hegemon has the strongest military in the world, significantly stronger than any of its rivals. Its military alliance system is significantly stronger than any rival military blocs.
2. Economic
The hegemon has the largest and most technologically advanced economy in the world. It is a major trading partner of most of the nations of the world, including most of the major powers.
3. Political
The hegemon has a wide range of political allies, and friendly relations with most nations and major powers.
4. Institutional
The hegemon, working with its allies, makes most of the rules that govern global political and economic relations. The hegemon, along with its allies, usually controls most of the international institutions. Thus, most of the policies of the international institutions favor the hegemon and its allies.
5. Ideological
The hegemon largely determines the terms of discourse in global relations. Marx once wrote, "The ruling ideas of any age are the ideas of the ruling class." Today, the predominant ideas about globalization are the ideas of hegemon.
Hegemony Contains Both Coercion and Consent
In international relations, the theory of hegemony is crucial because it captures both the tendency of the world’s leading power to forcefully assert its dominance yet at the same time to create alliances, ideas, and institutions that attract the relatively free participation of other states and peoples in a more or less open international system. Hegemony thus embodies both the coercion of informal empire and the consent of democratic participation. It combines both the “hard” power of military and economic empire with the “soft” power of democratic ideas and global institutions. Because the current international system built around U.S. hegemony thus contains both elements of coercion and consent, over time it could evolve in either the direction of an expanded informal empire or a more democratic, peaceful world order.
__http://dflorig.com/Hegemony.htm__
Examples of hegemony
1."The images, modes and attitudes of
__hip-hop__ and __gangsta rap__ are so powerful they are having a hegemonic effect across the globe. "
2.Communism had ideological hegemony over Marxism
3. A news report that shows strong support for a controversial foreign policy decision can be said to hegemonically support the government.
4. A home improvement network that makes it seem "normal" to own high-end granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances can be said to be hegemonically supporting the capitalist economic system.
5. A game show that shows scantily-clad women passively standing still until the host tells her to "open the case" can be seen as hegemonically promoting patriarchy.
6. Everyday behaviors that keep governments in power:
People hanging flags from their homes
People rising and removing their hats when the national anthem is sung
People celebrating a country's independence day with parades and picnic
7. Everyday behaviors that keep corporations in power:
People wearing designer clothing
People shopping at chains instead of local stores
Schools serving fast food in cafeterias
Women displaying huge diamond engagement rings.
People celebrating days that have been manufactured by Hallmark like Grandparent's Day
8. Everyday behaviors that keep patriarchy in power:
Women taking their husbands' last names.
Fathers "giving away" their daughters during wedding ceremonies.
The use of words such as "man" as gender neutral.
__http://www.suite101.com/content/hegemony-and-media-studies-a52278__